IIT Madras hosts ‘Best from Waste’ programme

To promote ‘Green Living’, IIT Madras hosted a programme titled 'Best from Waste' and Organic Farmers' Market in the IIT Madras campus, on March 8. The 'Best from Waste' programme observed a display of pioneering recycled and upcycled products. The Organic Farmers' Market displayed the sale of clothes and provisions which were grown organically. The event was organised in collaboration with two organisations. The first one was Citizen Consumers and Civic Action Group while the other one was Organic Farmers' Market. Talking about IIT Madras, it is itself a 'no-plastic' zone where all kinds of 'use-and-throw' plastic products are totally banned. The Institute has always given importance to the use of eco-friendly products.

The stalls at 'Best from Waste' showcased lanterns upcycled from old bottles, puppets made out of socks, cloth bags, upcycled bags and fabrics, wooden notebooks, clay bottles, cloth diapers/pads, plastic alternatives, and other plastic alternatives, plastic-free toys, copper utensils, vegetable, and flower seeds and organic compost, bamboo brushes, toothpowder, wooden combs, among many other such items. The 'Best from Waste' and Farmers' Market were organised at the Ladies' Club.

This programme is an effort to spread awareness among all the students and residents on campus of IIT Madras about the ill-effects of plastic use and the requirements for embracing an environment-friendly lifestyle for a viable future. The produce sold at the Organic Farmers' Market consisted of a wide range of locally-grown spices, sweeteners, honey, dry-fruits and beverages, rice, cereals, millets, pulses, oils, among others. Attendees were asked to bring their own carry bags and containers as an eco-friendly measure to evade the use of plastic bags by the vendors.

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